A natural compound derived from green tea could serve as a significant brain cleanser when paired with a common vitamin, researchers have discovered. This combination may help mitigate the accumulation of waste linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s.
What’s particularly intriguing about this finding is that these substances are easily accessible through a healthy diet and are also available as dietary supplements deemed safe by health regulations.
The research, conducted by scientists at the University of California Irvine, focused on the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate and nicotinamide, which is a form of vitamin B3 that the body produces naturally from foods rich in niacin, including cereals, fish, nuts, legumes, and eggs.
“By supplementing brain energy systems with compounds that are already accessible as dietary supplements, we may be paving a new way to address age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s,” shares biomedical engineer Gregory Brewer.
In lab tests using cultured mouse neurons, epigallocatechin gallate and nicotinamide were found to enhance the energy molecule guanosine triphosphate (GTP), which is present in brain cells. GTP is essential for the process of removing dead cells, and a deficit of this compound has been previously associated with Alzheimer’s as people age.
Neurons that had their GTP levels increased were better able to eliminate harmful clusters of amyloid beta proteins, which have long been connected to Alzheimer’s progression. Additionally, these compounds appeared to reverse age-related damage in brain cells.
While GTP has known ties to neurodegeneration, this study highlights how its levels can dwindle over time, particularly in Alzheimer’s cases. The researchers believe that the combination of epigallocatechin gallate and nicotinamide might restore GTP levels to those seen in younger cells.
“This study emphasizes GTP as a previously overlooked source of energy that is crucial for essential brain functions,” Brewer adds.
Earlier this year, another study noted a link between green tea consumption and reduced white matter lesions in the brain, which corresponds with a lower risk of dementia, although it didn’t establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Nicotinamide has also been noted for its protective properties against stroke and neurodegeneration.
This research suggests that GTP might explain those benefits and that the combination of epigallocatechin gallate and nicotinamide could offer significant advantages when taken together. Turning this discovery into a viable treatment will take more time, and it’s worth noting that testing so far has only been conducted on mouse cells, in vitro, but the outcomes are promising.
“As people age, their brains experience a drop in neuronal energy levels, which hampers their capability to remove unwanted proteins and damaged components,” Brewer points out. “We found that restoring energy levels assists neurons in regaining this critical cleanup function.”
The findings have been published in GeroScience.
